Lgricultural  and  Mineral  Rcsoun 


NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAIL  ROAD 


I«v      1MI1I.I1*     1*1 


Walla  Walla,  W 


TO  THE  HONOR  A  lill 


Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 


ng  been  a  resident  of  Washington 
Territory  and  of  Oregon  for  seventeen 
rs,  and  having  passed  over  the  <!itt'  r« m 
mutes  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
several  times,  I  have  from  personal  obser- 
vation obtained  much  information  respect- 
ing the  resources,  wealth,  and  clim;r 
the  country  intervening,  and  many  items 
which  have  never  been  embodied  in  any 
report,  and  which  may  be  of  service  to 
in  the  East  who  know  comparatively 
little  of  that  rich  country  now  so  rapidly 
settling.  I  propose  to  lay  before  you, 
:.'  »i  my  examination,  trust- 
in_r  they  may  give  some  new  light  upon  the 
Mibjeet  of  the  Northern  Pacific  railroad, 
which  is  all  important  to  the  development 
of  tUe  territory  lying  north  of  the  -loth 
parallel. 

Sinn-  the  discovery  of  the  rich  gold  and 
silver  mines  in  Montana  and  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Union  Pacific  road,  the  entire 
aspect  of  the  interior  of  our  country  has 
most  rapidly  changed.  The  progress  of 
interior  within  the  last  two  years  has 
been  greater  than  its  whole  previous  pro- 
gress ;  and  now,  as  there  have  within  the 
last  few  months  been  great  lines  of  i 
steamships  established  between  this  country 
and  Chins,  the  trade  will  increase  beyond 
all  calculation  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

So  rapidly  are  the  resources  of  our  interior 
being  developed  and  our  commerce  increas- 
ing on  the  Pacific,  that  within  a  very  short 
time,  almost  before  the  road  on  the  Cen- 
tral route  can  be  completed,  it  will  be  found 
one  road  will    not  be  able  to  do  the 
mi  of  business  that  will  oil- 
idea  vailed   a  few    years   since. 


before  the  question  of  the  Pacific  railroad 
was  as  well  understood  as  it  now  is,  that 
not  more  than  one  road  across  the  continent 
could  be  sustained,  is  fast  being  explo<i 

The  country  really  needs  three  grand 
trunk  lines,  and  will  eventually  build  and 
sustain  them  :  the  Southern,  the  Central, 
and  the  Northern.  And  that  there  will  be  no 
antagonism  between  the  roads,  in  reference 
to  way. travel,  is  evident,  as  each  road 
will  drain  a  wide  extent  of  country  border- 
ing on  it,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Northern  and 
Central,  the  distance  apart  from  San  Fran- 
cisco to  Puget  Sound  being  about  800 
miles,  and  running  nearly  parallel,  probably 
t lu  nearest  point  of  approach  being  Ca- 
<i -tie's  Pass  and  Bear  river,  distant  about 
300  miles;  so  that,  if  the  intermediate  popu- 
lation is  simply  a  pastoral  one,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  rich  gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead,  niekel,  iron,  and  coal  mines,  known 
to  exist  along  and  between  each  line,  the 
country  would,  when  thus  settled  up,  afford 
a  population  to  the  running  mile  of  road 
greater  than  the  way  population  of  any  road 
in  the  United  States.  The  small  porti. 
( 'entral  road  that  is  now  complete 
paying  very  largely,  and  is  rapidly  increas- 
ing. 

With  the  completion  of  these  great  lines 
across  the  continent,  there  would  be  ac- 
cess furnished  to  millions  of  acres  of  the 
public  domain,  on  which  would  bo  erected 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  happy  homes  in 
the  interior  of  our  country,  all  the  way 
i  the  Qulf  of  Mexico  to  the  forty-ninth 
parallel,  and  would  draw  large  numbers  of 
the  population  away  from  the  crowded 
cities  of  the  Atlantic,  where,  in  many  in- 


stances,  they  do  not  find  a  support  without 
the  assistance  of  charity,  to  where  they 
could  find  cheap  homes  and  plenty  to  do 
in  furnishing  food  for  the  millions  who 
would  then  settle  in  our  mountains,  and 
work  out  the  mines  with  machinery,  which, 
if  these  roads  were  not  built,  must  remain 
untouched  for  ages. 

I  believe  that,  if  the  three  roads  were 
now  built,  that  within  ten  years  there 
would  be  gold  and  silver  enough  taken  out 
of  the  mountains  to  pay  off  the  national 
debt.  It  is  also  the  opinion  of  many  of 
our  wisest  and  most  comprehensive  states- 
men with  whom  I  have  conversed,  that  it 
would  be  wise  policy  for  the  Government  at 
the  present  time  to  assist  directly — at  once  to 
build  these  roads,  in  order  to  render  avail- 
able the  great  extent  of  our  public  domain, 
now  inaccessible  in  the  interior  of  our 
country. 

It  is  manifest  that  one  road  is  not  equal 
to  the  public  need,  and  would  be 
unjust  to  the  people  of  the  country. 
If  three  roads  are  built  it  would  be  more  to 
the  interest  of  the  Government  to  use  the 
three  roads  than  it  would  be  if  but  a  single 
road  was  built.  If  but  one  road  is  built,  to 
wit,  over  the  central  line,  the  Government 
would  still  be  obliged  to  provide  for  the 
transportation  of  its  mails  and  munitions  of 
war  over  the  northern  and  southern  routes, 
which  are  already  a  very  important  item, 
as  in  the  mails,  from  Chicago  to  Montana. 

With  these  general  remarks  I  will  now 
offer  a  brief  account  of  my  observations  on 
the  northern  route,  particularly  the  Kocky 
mountain  portion,  having  travelled  thor- 
oughly over  it  at  four  different  times  within 
the  last  two  years,  twice  in  mid-winter.  In 
the  first  place,  commencing  at  Puget  Sound, 
we  find  there  an  immense  inland  sea,  per- 
fectly land-locked,  and  safe  from  storms, 
and  always  free  from  ice  and  fogs,  with  a 
shore  line  of  over  two  thousand  miles  in 
length,  with  water  so  deep  and  free  from 
rocks  that  the  largest  vessels  can  tie  up  in 
safety  to  the  trees  which  line  the  shore. 
At  the  same  time  this  immense  harbor  is 
surrounded  by  a  rich,  fertile  soil,  capable 
of  supporting  a  population  as  great  as  that 
of  the  New  England  and  Middle  States, 
together  with  unlimited  forests  of  the  finest 
timber  for  ship-building  and  for  lumber, 
with  extensive  coal  and  iron  mines  and 
fisheries,  and  immense  quarries  of  granite 


and  limestone,  and  an  unlimited  water- 
power,  and  everything  which  goes  to  build 
up  and  sustain  a  great  commercial  centre. 

Previous  to  the  purchase  of  Alaska, 
San  Francisco  was  considered  about  the 
centre  of  our  possessions  on  the  Pacific. 
But,  with  the  acquisition  of  Walrussia,  the 
Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca  are  no  longer  on 
our  extreme  northwest;  but  we  have  an  ex- 
tensive sea  coast,  reaching  1,200  miles  to  the 
north,  and  San  Francisco  ceases  to  be  the 
only  centre  of  commerce  for  the  Pacific 
coast,  whilst  Puget  Sound  becomes  the 
geographical  centre. 

It  is  urged  by  many  that  San  Francisco, 
having  such  great  wealth  centred  in  and 
around  her,  and  being  the  great  commercial 
entrepot  of  the  Pacific,  and  having  the  start 
of  Puget  Sound,  that  no  point  can  ever  rise 
on  its  waters  to  importance.  What  does 
history  teach  us  on  this  subject?  How 
many  cities  have  arisen  and  fallen  on  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  given 
place  to  other  cities,  century  after  century. 
And  on  our  own  Atlantic  seaboard,  New 
York  was  not  always  the  great  metropolis 
of  the  Atlantic. 

The  time  was  when  Newport,  in  Rhode 
Island,  was  the  commercial  mistress  of  our 
thirteen  colonies,  and  New  York  did  not 
become  first  until  after  a  struggle  of  more 
than  one  hundred  years. 

Show  me  a  spot  that  Nature  has  pointed 
out  as  fitted  for  the  seat  of  commerce,  and 
I  will  show  you  a  point  where  the  enter- 
prise of  the  American  people  will  found  a 
great  city  and  establish  a  great  commerce. 
It  is  simply  a  question  of  time. 

The  lumber  trade  alone  of  Puget  Sound 
is  already  quite  an  item,  and  has  but  fairly 
commenced.  Last  year  the  amount  shipped 
in  lumber,  spars,  and  piles  amounted  in 
measurement  to  400,000,000  feet.  The 
spars  find  their  way  to  almost  every  port 
in  the  civilized  world,  and  this  trade  must 
increase  in  value  each  year,  as  we  find  on 
the  shores  of  Puget  Sound  and  Alaska  the 
two  last  great  forests  in  the  world  accessi- 
ble to  commerce. 

There  are  two  termini  provided  in  the 
charter  of  the  Northern  Pacific  railroad 
upon  the  Pacific  coast — one  at  Puget  Sound 
and  the  other  at  Portland,  Oregon. 

Leaving  Puget  Sound,  going  east,  the 
route  passes  up  to  the  divide  of  the  Cascade 
range  on  a  very  moderate  grade  to  Sno- 


nearly  4,000  feot  less  tbtia  \vh.n-  the  cen- 
«ii'.  -sea  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and 

croft's  tin  summit  miles 

from  Seattle. 

On  this  sc  N  are  fine  agricultural 

.  nnd  coal;  and  on  the  en 
slope  of  the  Cascades  there  arc  known  i.. 
exi*'  :nl    rii-h    & 

poM  all  the  way  to  tin-  British  possessions. 
will  be  an  easy 

grade  to  the  head  of  the  Yakima  an«4  down 
airy  for  14"i  miles  to  the  crossing  of 
..lumbi:i. 

In  the  valley  of  UK-  Yakima  there  are 
some  of  the  finest  agricultural  lands  to  be 
found  in  Washington  Territory— where 
the  settlers  have  raised  go<>  nd  a 

climate  so  mild  in  winter  that  it  has  been 
considered  for  a  number  of  years  the  safest 
place  to  winter  large  herds  <»;  -t  of 

the  Cascade  mountains. 

Niuety  ibove  the  mouth  of  the 

Yakima  are  extensive  forests  of  yellow 
pine,  whirh  can  be  rafted  down  during 
high  water  to  points  along  the  line  of  i 
At  the  crossing  of  the  Columbia  river  the 
other  line  from  Portland  forms  a  junction 
with  this.  Portland  is  now  the  largest 
town  in  Oregon  and  is  the  terminus  of  the 
line  of  steamers  from  San  Francisco  and 
the  point  at  which  the  business  of  the  Wil- 
lamette valley  centres  and  from  whirh  the 
Oregon  Steam  Navigation  Company  extend 
their  line  of  steamers  up  the  Columbia  to 
Wallula,  840  miles  from  the  Pacific.  This 
would  give  a  connection  at  once  with  the 
line  east,  by  means  of  steamers,  while  the 
was  being  constructed, 
starting  from  tin-  mouth  of  the  IVluse, 
on  Snake  •  :.>\vhi<  h  steamers 

ascend  from   Portland  nearly   the  whole 
year,  to  Fort  Benton,  on  the   Missouri, 
where  large  numbers  of  steamers  ai 
and  depart  every  season,  it  would  bo  but 
585  miles.    Or,  to  take  the  route  via  1 
d'Oreille  lake  and  Clark's  Fork  ..I    in. 
lumbia,  w  steamers  and 

200  miles  of  navigation,  would  reduce  the 
actual  travel  by  stage  nt  thi-  time  to  875 
miles,  on  the  line  of  the  North  Pacific  road, 
between  the  Pacific  and  the  A 

is  steamboat  navigation,  reaching 
nearly  across  the  continent  on  the  northern 
route,  will  be  found  to  be  of  very  great  ad- 
vantage in  constructing  the  line,  as  toe 


work  can  be  commenced  at  eight  different 
points  ut  the  same  time,  and  as  before 
shown,  workman  tial  can  be 

•        unl.ii   ..u.l    Missouri  to 
within  live  him 

From  the  crositiug  of  the  Columbia  to  the 
-ion,  at  the  entrance  of 

The  route  .lies  of 

section  lies  over  a  rolling  prairie,  with 
good  grass,  but  no  timi.er.  Tl. 
mainiug  distance  t  •  the  mountains  lies 
through  fine  groves  of  pine  timber,  with 
the  finest  of  grazing  most  of  the  way,  rich 
alluvial  bottoms,  and  streams  of  the  purest 
water. 

This  section  crosses  what  is  known  as 
the  great  plains  of  the  Columbia,  extending 
from  the  southern  boundary  of  Oregon,  and 
lying  between  the  Cascade  range  on  the 
west  and  the  Blue  and  Bitter  Root  moun- 
tains on  the  east,  and  stretching  far  into 
the  British  possessions  in  the  noith. 

This  country,  until  very  recently,  has 
been  considered  mere  especially  fitted  for  a 
pastoral  country,  but  .  instance 

where  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  has  been 
:  u  pled,  the  results  have  proven  quite 
satisfactory,  not  only  in  the  raising  of  all 
kinds  of  grain  and  vegetables,  but  all  kinds 
of  fruits  of  the  temperate  zone  in  the  great- 
est perfection. 

In  ';i  Walla    valley,   which  is 

about  equally  divided  by  the  40th  parallel, 
and  has  been  settled  scarcely  seven  years, 
were  produced  in  1866  over  one  million 
bushels  of  grain,  six  hundred  thousand  of 
which  was  wheat.  I  have  teen  in  that 
valley  large  fields  of  wheat  average  fifty 
I'M-hels  per  acre;  and  in  1867  the  best 
qual  r,  put  up  in  fifty-pound  cot- 

ton sacks,  sold  for  $3  75  (gold)  per  barn  I, 
and  yet  this  valley  was  not  taxed  to  one- 
fifth  of  its  capacity  of  production.  This 
valley  alone  would  be  able  to  supply  the 
whole  force  employed  in  constructing  the 
Western  Division  with  flour,  beef,  anU 
bacon  at  cheap  rates. 

i*  not  generally  known  in  the  East 
that  we  have  a  climate  west  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  that  will  admit  of  raising 
peaches  and  grapes  And  sweet  potatoes,  as 
far  north  as  the  47th  parallel. 

ir  yean  ago  last  spring  I  planted  in 
the  WalU  Walla  valley  an  orchard  of  one 
thousand  small  yearling  trees.  Last  sum 


mer  I  raised  from  that  orchard  over  one 
thousand  bushels  of  the  finest  quality  of 
peaches,  apples,  pears,  plums,  cherries,  and 
grapes;  and  in  1865  I  raised  over  thirteen 
thousand  pounds  of  sweet  potatoes.  [I  ask 
pardon  for  making  use  of  this  personal  no- 
tice, but  as  it  may  appear  strange  to  some  I 
prefer  to  assume  the  responsibility  myself.] 
And  still  there  are  thousands  of  acres  lying 
unclaimed,  and  near  this  railroad  route, 
which  will  produce  as  well  as  the  Walla 
Walla  valley. 

All  that  this  country  needs  to  make  it  a 
desirable  place  for  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  homes  is  a  railroad  to  render  these 
places  accessible,  and  to  bring  the  timber 
and  lumber  down  from  the  mountains  on 
either  side  of  these  plains,  where  there  are 
unlimited  forests,  which  will  remain  use- 
less until  some  way  is  devised  to  get  it  out 
on  the  plains,  thereby  rendeiing  both  sec- 
tions valuable.  Let  a  railroad  but  be  built, 
and  in  a  short  time  all  these  plains  will  be 
dotted  over  with  cottages,  with  their  little 
farms,  and  orchards,  and  herds. 

From  the  Cceur  d'Alene  Mission  to  the 
summit  of  the  mountains  is  forty-eight 
miles,  where  a  railroad  can  be  built  at  an 
elevation  of  3,990  feet.  From  .this  point 
down  the  St.  Regia  Borgia  to  the  crossing 
of  the  Bitter  Root  river  is  thirty-nine  miles. 
This  portion  of  the  route  passes  over  what 
is  known  as  tho  "Mullan  road,"  and  is  the 
route  over  which  three-fourths  of  all  the 
travel  and  freight  now  passes  from  the 
Pacific  to  Montana,  and  over  which  about 
100  wagons  passed  last  season,  including 
an  emigrant  train  from  Minnesota  with 
persons  from  the  age  of  three  months  to 
ninety-five  years.  This  train  passed  over 
in  November  with  the  loss  of  but  one 
animal,  proving  that  the  route  cannot  be 
very  difficult,  and  yet  this  is  considered  the 
most  difficult  part  of  the  entire  route — be- 
tween Lake  Superior  and  Puget  sound. 
All  of  this  section  is  timbered  with  the 
finest  quality  of  pine,  cedar,  and  fir,  with 
rock  and  all  the  material  for  building  a 
road  on  the  ground,  and  no  portion  of  this 
will  be  as  "difficult  of  construction  as  from 
Harper's  Ferry  to  the  Ohio  river  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  road.  From  the 
crossing  of  the  Bitter  Root  to  Hellgate 
valley,  sixty-five  miles,  the  country  is 
much  of  the  same  character,  excepting  that 
the  valley  is  wider  and  the  grades  some- 


what lighter.  From  Hellgate  valley  to 
Cadotte's  Pass,  the  summit  of  the  Rocky 
mountains,  a  distance  of  114  miles,  there 
are  settlements  all  the  way,  with  many 
good  farms  in  Bitter  Root  valley,  where 
the  settlers  raise  good  crops  of  wheat,  oats, 
barley,  potatoes,  and  in  some  instances 
corn  and  tomatoes.  Near  Hellgate  are 
three  flouring  mills,  and  to  such  extent  have 
the  settlers  raised  wheat  already  that  last 
summer  good  flour  was  sold  at  the  mills  for 
$10  (gold)  per  barrel.  This  will  be  found 
to  be  one  very  great  item  in  building  this 
road  over  any  other  route,  that  of  having 
supplies  of  flour  and  provisions  raised  on 
the  ground  and  furnished  at  low  rates. 
From  the  summit  level  of  the  tunnel  at 
Cadotte's  Pass,  which  is  estimated  at  4,072 
feet,  more  than  4,000  feet  lower  than  where 
the  Central  road  passes  the  same  range,  to 
Fort  Benton  is  105  miles. 

While  this  pass  retains  its  height  for  less 
than  tnrse  miles  at  this  place,  on  the  central 
route,  the  road  passes  over  an  elevation  of 
from  6,569  feet  to  8,242  feet,  for  a  distance  of 
150  miles,as  taken  from  the  report  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior.  The  greatest  elevation 
being  at  the  Black  Hills,  8,242  feet;  Rattle- 
snake Hills, 7,132;  and  at  Dodge's  Summit, of 
the  water  shed,  7,108;  and  the  lowest  point 
reached  on  this  section  is  at  the  crossing  of 
the  Medicine  Bow  river,  6,569  feet;  and 
yet  this  road  will  be  finished  and  cars  run- 
ning over  it  within  a  very  few  months. 

From  Fort  Benton  (the  point  to  which 
large  numbers  of  steamers  ascend  the  Mis- 
souri every  year  with  large  numbers  of  pas- 
sengers and  heavy  stocks  of  merchandise 
for  the  Rocky  mountain  district)  to  the 
western  line  of  Minnesota,  near  Fort  Aber- 
crombie,  is  793  miles.  This  part  of  the  route 
passes  over  a  rolling  prairie  country,  near 
the  Missouri,  crossing  a  number  of  small 
rivers,  on  which  will  be  found  a  supply  of 
timber  for  the  road,  and  passing  through  a 
country  susceptible  of  supporting  a  large 
population  the  entire  distance.  From  the 
western  boundary  of  Minnesota  to  Lake 
Superior,  232  miles,  is  a  very  rich  agricul- 
tural country,  already  settled,  with  railroads 
running  in  different  directions  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year;  and  yet  there  is  always  more 
snow  in  winter  in  Minnesota  and  Eastern 
Dakota  than  on  any  other  portion  of  the 
route,  excepting  about  the  summits  of  the 
ranges  of  the  mountains  crossed,  and  at 


plaees  tin-   route  Hi**;  through  heavy 
timl.er,  so  that  the  snow  will  not  drift. 

From  Cadotte's  Pass,  which  is  in  latitude 
47  degrees,  G  minutes,  to  longitude  44  de- 
grees, 10  minutes,  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
-<>u  fork,  there  are  no  less  than  seven 
well-known  passes  through  the  Rocky 
mountains.  In  fact  the  whole  range  is  so 
completely  broken  down  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  in  length  that  the  waters  of 
the  Columbia  and  Missouri,  rising  on  the 
mountain  spurs,  and  very  often  beyond  each 
other,  are  in  some  instances  brought  down 
in  ditches  for  mining  purposes — the  waters 
of  the  Missouri  over  to  the  Pacific  slope, 
and  those  of  the  Columbia  to  the  Atlantic 
slope. 

In  regard  to  the  climate  of  this  portion 
of  the  Rocky  niouutains,  I  have  crossed 
the  summit  ;it  different  places  on  this  sec- 
tion in  mid-winter,  both  last  winter  and 
the  present  one,  on  horseback  and  in  the 
stage,  and  so  free  from  snow  are  these 
passes  from  the  effects  of  wind  currents 
coming  from  the  great  plains  of  the  Co- 
lumbia and  the  Pacific  ocean,  that  I  found  no 
difficulty  in  crossing  at  any  time,  and  I  did 
not  find  the  snow  over  six  inches  deep  on 
the  80th  day  of  December.  The  settlers 
and  miners  pass  back  and  forth  over  the 
mountains  almost  every  day  during  the 
winter,  and  large  herds  of  cattle  and  horses 
are  wintered  on  the  Deer  Lodge  and  Little 
Blackfoot  rivers,  within  ten  miles  of  the 
summit  of  the  Rocky  mountains  without  a 
morsel  of  food  being  provided  for  them. 

1  know  of  one  party  who  has  two  hun- 
d/ed  head,  and  another  has  thirteen 
hundred  head.  Both  have  wintered  tlu-ir 
eattleX  here  for  two  seasons,  and  have 
never  put  up  any  hay  for  them,  but 
leave  them  to  graze  during  the  winter 
months.  And  at  Fort  Benton,  for  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  there  has  not  been  snow 
enough  for  the  fur  company  to  take  their 
goods  to  the  diilrreiit  posts  on  sleds  in  win- 

having  to  use  carts  for  that  purpose. 
I  have  learned  that  this  is  no  unusual 
thing.     In  conversation  with   Victor,  head 
Hiief  of  the    Flathead  nation,  and  who  is 
now  about  seventy  years  of  age,  and  re- 
members  distinctly  when  Lewis  and  < 
came  through  this  country,  he  stated 

Of  tl,«-    In.ii  ,11.   ' 

passed  through  these  mountains,  year  after 
year,    through   the  winter  months,   often 


with  their  women  ami  children,  with  pack 
animals  laden  down  with  furs  and  meat. 
Other  Indians  and  trappers  have  told  me 
the  same. 

It  is  evident  that  this  route  possesses 
greater  natural  advantages  than  any  other 
route  across  the  continent  in  soil  and  cli- 
mate, capable  of  sustaining  animal  life, 
from  the  rat -t  that  it  was  the  route  selected 
by  Lewis  and  Clark  sixty-three  years  ago 
to  cross  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  Their  infor- 
mation of  the  country  must,  of  course, 
have  been  obtained  from  mountaineers  and 
Indians,  who  had  been  led  into  the  coun- 
try by  the  large  numbers  of  game  known 
to  rove  through  these  passes  for  ages.  The 
scientific  engineer  may  find  it  policy  to  cut 
through  some  mountain  spurs  or  tunnel 
some  lofty  summits,  but  the  great  practical, 
paying  routes  will  be  found  to  be  those  first 
marked  out  by  the  deer  thousands  of  years 
ago  in  passing  from  one  well-watered  and 
good  grazing  ground  to  another.  And  on 
its  track  followed  the  Indian  in  the  ohase; 
next  the  trapper  with  his  pack  horse;  after 
him  the  pioneer  with  his  wagon;  and 
finally  there  follows  over  the  very  same 
general  route,  tne  greatest  and  highest 
achievement  of  science  and  civilization — 
the  iron  horse  and  the  lightning  messen- 
ger. Had  it  not  have  been  for  the  acci- 
dental discovery  of  gold  in  California  this 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  the  route 
first  selected  for  the  Pacific  railroad. 

I  have  been  asked  by  persons  here,  "Will 
the  Rocky  mountain  district  ever  be  set- 
tled ?n  In  reply,  I  would  say  that  on  the 
first  of  last  November  (1867)  I  left  Walla- 
Walla  on  horseback  alone  to  go  into  the 
Rocky  mountains  on  business,  passing 
through  the  eastern  part  of  Washington, 
the  northern  part  of  Idaho,  and  travelling 
more  than  1,500  miles  in  Montana,  and 
put  up  at  a  house  every  night  with  good 
accommodations,  and  had  grain  for  my 
horse  in  almost  every  instance. 

Montana  at  this  time  has  a  population 
of  65,000  souls,  and  has  towns  of  from 
8,000  to  6,000  inhabitants,  with  fire-proof 
buildings,  costing  $15,000,  and  stocks  of 
goods  worth  front  $100,000  to  $200,000; and 
valleys  producing  100,000  bushels  of  wheat; 
and  public  schools  and  churches;  and  its 
daily  and  weekly  newspapers,  which  would 
be  a  credit  to  any  country,  and  yet  all  this 
improvement  and  settlement  has  been  made 


within  three  or  four  years,  and  that,  too, 
without  the  immediate  prospect  of  a  rail- 
road, and  none  of  the  aids  and  excitement 
which  the  starting  and  commencing  of 
such  an  enterprise  would  furnish. 

Another  reason  why  the  northern  road 
should  be  built  is  that  it  runs  near  to  the 
British  possessions  for  1,500  miles,  and 
would  drain  all  that  rich  agricultural  re- 
gion of  the  Bed  river  and  Saskatchuan 
country,  east  of  the  mountains,  and  all  the 
rich  gold  mines  on  the  Kootenay,  the 
Thompson's,  and  the  Frazier  rivers,  on  the 
west,  and  lying  north  of  the  49th  parallel. 
The  revenue  to  our  Government  from 
this  source  alone  would  be  very  great  in- 
deed, and  a  road  would  then  not  be  at- 
tempted to  be  built  by  England,  and  the 
whole  country  would  soon  become  so 
thoroughly  Americanized  (as  already  more 
than  half  the  miners  in  thit  country  are 
Americans)  that  they  would  in  a  short  time 
be  asking  for  annexation  to  the  United 
States,  and  by  the  time  that  our  population 
would  need  more  territory,  the  British 
Possessions  would  become  ours  without 
conquest,  and  almost  without  purchase. 

Here  I  would  just  add  that  a  petition  has 
already  been  circulated  in  British  Columbia 
to  the  home  Government,  containing  the  fol- 
lowing significant  language:  "That  we 
humbly  submit  to  your  Majesty's  gracious 
consideration,  as  the  only  policy  to  bring 
back  prosperity  to  our  homes,  to  wit: 
Either  that  your  Majesty's  Government 
may  be  pleased  to  relieve  us  immediately 
of  the  expense  of  an  excessive  staff  of 
officials;  assist  the  establishment  of  a 
British  line  of  steamers  with  Panama,  so 
that  emigrants  from  England  may  reach 
us,  and  also  assume  the  debts  of  this 
colony,  or  that  your  Majesty  will  gra- 
ciously permit  the  colony  to  become  a  por- 
tion of  the  United  States.  That  every  feel- 
ing of  loyalty  and  cherished  sentiment  of 
our  hearts  prompt  us  to  cling  to  our  pres- 
ent connection  with  our  mother  country, 
and  to  count  as  our  best  inheritance  our 
birthright  as  Britons;  but  all  our  commer- 
cial and  business  relations  are  so  intimate 
with  the  neighboring  American  population 
that  we  see  no  other  feasible  help  out  of 
our  present  difficulties  than  by  being  united 
with  them,  unless  your  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment will  help  us  as  aforesaid." 
We  think  it  has  been  proven  that  the 


northern  route  is  not  only  capable  of  sus- 
taining a  large  population  on  the  entire 
distance,  but  that  the  summits  are  about 
four  thousand  feet  less  than  on  the  cen- 
tral line;  that  the  distances,  on  an  average, 
from  San  Francisco  and  Seattle  to  the  dif- 
ferent ports  on  the  Atlantic  shore,  are  three 
hundred  and  sixteen  miles  less  than  on  the 
central  route,  and  that  a  degree  of  longi- 
tude being  less  on  the  47th  than  on  the 
38th  latitude,  makes  the  distance  by  ocean 
from  Canton  to  Liverpool,  on  the  northern 
route,  some  eight  hundred  miles  less,  mak- 
ing in  all  over  one  thousand  miles  less  on 
the  northern  route  between  Asia  and  Eu- 
rope than  over  any  other  route  across  the 
continent. 

The  sum  of  ascents  and  descents  from  St. 
Paul  to  Seattle  is  21,787  feet,  and  29,387  feet 
on  the  central  route.  These  figures  give 
the  best  practical  index  of  the  effect  of  the 
gradients  to  increase  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation. 

Engineers  allow  one  mile  for  every  52.08 
feet  of  rise  and  fall  as  denoting  the  addi- 
tional working  expense  over  a  level  route. 
This  difference  would  make  one  hundred 
and  forty-four  miles  more  in  favor  of  the 
northern  route.  Then  add  to  this  the  fact 
that  Liverpool,  and  all  the  principal  ports 
in  Europe,  He  between  the  46th  and  53d 
degrees  of  latitude  north,  and  we  have 
again  in  favor  of  the  northern  line  an  ave- 
rage of  250  miles  on  the  Atlantic,  making 
in  all  a  real  distance  of  1,116  miles,  in  ad- 
dition to  a  practical  working  distance  of 
144  and  250—1,510,  giving  in  reality  1,510 
miles  advantages  to  the  Northern  route  over 
any  other  route  across  the  continent  be- 
tween Liverpool  and  Canton. 

These  facts  show  that  not  only  is  Puget 
sound  nearer  Asia  than  San  Francisco,  but 
that  the  overland  distance  to  the  principal 
cities  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  especially 
the  great  lakes,  (where  freight  can  be 
shipped,  without  breaking  bulk,  to  Europe 
direct,)  is  much  less  than  the  distance  from 
San  Francisco  to  the  same  points  by  either 
the  central  or  the  southern  route,  and  that 
the  grades  are  much  easier  on  the  northern 
route  than  on  any  other  route,  and  the 
grade  is  one  of  the  controlling  elements  in 
carrying  freights.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that 
the  northern  route  will  be  self-sustaining 
the  entire  distance,  while  on  the  central 
route  there  are  hundreds  of  miles  that  will 


not  produce  even  grass,  and  to  which  the 
company  must  actually  transport  fuel  for 
the  use  of  its  road. 

'MU  all  these  things  into  considera- 
tion, ami  that  we  have  tin-  finest  harbor  in 
the  world  on  Puget  Sound,  surrounded 
with  all  the  great  and  permanent  resources 
of  wraith,  capable  of  accommodating  the 
shipping  of  the  whole  world  in  safety. 
and  ih.it  tin?  distance  is  so  much  shorter 
from  Liverpool  to  Canton,  over  the  north- 
ern route  than  any  other  across  the  conti- 
nent, it  is  evident  it  will  be  for  the  interests 
of  the  Government  to  avail  itself  of  this 
route  in  tin-  transportation  of  its  troops, 
munitions  of  war,  and  the  mails,  not  only 
for  our  own  country,  but  for  the  British 
possessions,  and  for  Europe  and  Asia,  to- 
gether with  the  express  freight,  and  all 
costly  articles,  such  as  teas  and  silks, 
which  will  be  an  immense  item  within  a 
few  years,  not  only  to  Europe,  but  to  our 
own  Mississippi  valley,  when  it  comes  to 
contain  a  population  of  50,000,000  souls, 
which  it  soon  will. 

In  this  connection,  I  may  state  that  it 
has  been  estimated  that  a  ton  of  freight 
can  be  delivered  at  Chicago  by  the  north- 
ern route  for  less  than  it  can  IK-  delivered 
at  Rock  Island,  on  the  Mississippi,  by  the 
central. 

Indeed,  a  comparison  of  the  distances 
and  the  cheapness  of  down-river  freights 
show  that  a  ton  of  freight  can  be  taken 
from  Seattle,  over  the  Northern  route,  to 
St  Paul,  and  placed  on  a  steamer  and  de- 
livered, not  only  at  Rock  Island  or  St. 
Louis  at  less  cost  than  it  can  be  delivered  at 
either  of  these  points  by  the  central  route, 
but  it  can  descend  the  Mississippi  and  be 
delivered  at  any  point  thence  to  New  Or- 
leans at  less  cost  tli m  from  San  Francisco, 
either  by  the  central  or  the  southern  route. 

In  giving  these  statistics  and  in  making 
these  comparisons,  I  do  it  with  no  invidious 
feeling  whatever  toward  the  central  or  any 
other  eompetn  as  we  of  the  North 

are  glad  to  see  our  friends  of  the  ecu 
road  pushing  their  work  through  with  such 
energy  and  vigor  as  to  astonish  the  whole 
civilized  world.    The  sooner  there  is  a  con- 
tinuous rail  from  New  York  to  San   Fran- 
cisco the  people  of  Oregon, 
Washington,  Idaho,  and  Montana,  in  • 
mon    with    those    of    C  .  ida, 
,  and  Colorado,  and   I  think  (hat 


Government  will  find  that  the  aid  extended 
to  the  central  route  will  prove  to  be  the 
best  loans  ever  made,  as  the  increase  in 
taxes  and  revenue  must  prove  very  r 
indeed.  Bat  I  give  these  statements  simply 
to  show  that  in  all  the  essential  character- 
*  of  travel  and  of  commerce,  in  respect 
to  distances,  and  oilier  natural  ad vaniages, 
the  northern  route  has  the  advantage.  And 
if  tin:  iriends  of  the  route  and  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  general  will  prove  true  to  their 
own  int  :  will  build  up  and  estab- 

lish on  our  own  soil  a  great  national  high- 
way between  Lake  Superior  and  Puget 
Sound,  over  which  will  flow,  through 
the  beautiful  valleys  and  over  the  nioun- 
-hington  il  'ana,  the 

great  golden  current  of  wealth  from  the 
Orient,  whi.-h  has  ever  :  .11  its 

pathway. 

To  build  this  road,  which  no  company  is 
able  to  do  without  assistance  from  the  Gov- 
ernment, I  understand  the  company  do 
not  ask  for  capital ;  all  that  they  ask  for  is 
the  endorsement  of  the  Government,  sub- 
stantially as  furnished  to  other  and  similar 
roads  as  a  basis  of  credit. 

The  provisions  of  the  bill  arc  ueh  as  to 
preclude  tin-  possibility  of  the  loss  of  a 
single  dollar  by  the  Government.  And  I 
feel  sure  that  the  bu>ine»  of  the  road  will 
be  BO  great  e\vn  from  the  «>nnn«  n<  ,  mrnt, 
that  not  only  t.  ti  but  the  bonds  will 

be  paid  otF  promptly  at  nuitu: 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  northern 
road  should  not  pay  as  well  or  even  better 
than  the  central.  And  from  the  report  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  "the  Union 
Pacific  Railway  Company  furnished  a  table 
showing  that  the  amount  retained  by  the 
United  States  ]  r  from  that  due  the 

company  on  the  Government  business,  for 
the  mouth  of  August  last,  is  nearly  eight 
[-•I-  cent,  per  annum  of  the  principal  of  the 
bonds  issued  to  the  company  on  account  of 
the  construction  of  the  road."  This  would 
repay  the  principal  at  no  distant  period  by 
me  Government  business  alone,  shotil 
be  continued  to  the  same  extent.  The  pay- 
ment of  the  bonds  at  maturity  is,  therefore, 
considered  by  the  company  to  be  fully 
assured,  and  the  road  as  being  built,  so  far 
as  the  Government  is  concerned,  simply 
by  the  loan  of  its  credit  for  a  term  of  years 
:i  ample  si'  .  without  the  actual 

expenditure  of  a  single  dollar  Irom  the 


public  treasury.  With  the  aid  of  the  credit  statistics  have  been  taken  from  the  excel- 
thus  asked  for,  I  have  no  doubt  that  lent  report  of  our  lamented  Governor 
the  company  can  not  only  construct  the  Stevens,  whose  hallowed  memory  every 
road,  but  save  the  Government  from  any  citizen  of  Washington  Territory  loves  to 
possible  loss,  and  add  largely  to  the  popu-  cherish, 
lation,  power,  and  wealth  of  the  nation.  Very  Respectfully, 

In  this  communication  the  distances  on  PHILIP  RITZ. 

a  portion  of  the  route  and  many  important  Washington  City,  D.  C.,  March  9th,  1868. 


CHRONICLE  MINT.,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C= 


/2T 


